Spiritual Intelligence: Problems, Challenges and Solutions

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2023) | Viewed by 22825

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Psychology, University of Gdańsk, 80-309 Gdańsk, Poland
Interests: psychology of spirituality and religion; meaning in life; well-being

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Guest Editor
Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Jan Kochanowski University, 25-369 Kielce, Poland
Interests: religious coping; spiritual well-being; ultimate meaning
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to explore spiritual intelligence (SI) as a challenge to modern science. Some researchers question how to define it, how to describe it, how to operationalize it, or finally, how to research it. However, many of them first ask about the reason for specifying the essence of such a construct, asking whether there is a phenomenon that meets the definition requirements of such a spirituality instrument (Gardner, 2000). It seems that the spiritual sphere of a person should possess and use a mechanism enabling the search for the meaning in/of life and the fulfillment of human in their self-realization (Emmons, 1999; Zohar and Marshall, 2000; Skrzypińska, 2021).

This volume of Religions thus poses the question of spiritual intelligence as a newly discovered phenomenon that could help in the process of improving quality of life by giving it meaning. In this situation, it seems necessary to fill the gap between rational and emotional intelligence, which are not able to justify and explain all human activities and to justify their consequences.

There are interesting questionnaires for studying spiritual intelligence (SISRI-24 by King 2008; ISIS by Amram and Dryer 2008; SSI by Kumar and Mehta 2013), which, however, encounter a cultural barrier in the adaptation process. It is difficult to create a universal questionnaire that, in most cultures, would allow researchers to obtain one higher-order factor—SI (Atroszko, Skrzypińska and Balcerowska, 2021). However, obstacles exist to be overcome. Therefore, we invite you to explore one of the most interesting problems of contemporary psychology of religion, which may be confusing, but provides a lot of satisfaction in the process of discovering psychological truth.

This Special Issue aims to gather knowledge about defining spiritual intelligence, and to discover its purposes, mechanisms of function, and consequences of initiated actions. We are looking for methods of assessment of these phenomena and processes, and the application of the obtained results to practical areas of human life: psychotherapy, improvement of well-being, and quality of life. We are also interested in phenomena related to spiritual intelligence and those that can be influenced by it.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Definitions and scope of spiritual intelligence;
  • The origin of spiritual intelligence;
  • How effectively can we measure spiritual intelligence?;
  • The relationship between personality and spiritual intelligence;
  • Spiritual intelligence as an instrument of searching for meaning in life.

We expect theoretical, polemical, and review articles, meta-analyses, research reports, and series of studies.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Katarzyna Skrzypińska
Dr. Justyna Mróz
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • spiritual intelligence
  • spirituality
  • meaning in life
  • well-being

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 517 KiB  
Article
Spiritual Intelligence as a Mediator between Personality and Emotional and Decisional Forgiveness in Polish Adults
by Justyna Mróz, Kinga Kaleta and Katarzyna Skrzypińska
Religions 2023, 14(5), 574; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050574 - 25 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2254
Abstract
Forgiveness is a constructive method of dealing with interpersonal incidents. It is determined by many factors, including personality and spirituality. The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationships between the Big Five personality traits, spiritual intelligence, and emotional and decisional [...] Read more.
Forgiveness is a constructive method of dealing with interpersonal incidents. It is determined by many factors, including personality and spirituality. The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationships between the Big Five personality traits, spiritual intelligence, and emotional and decisional forgiveness in a real situation. The study involved 396 Polish participants aged from 18 to 79. Four tools were used: the Abridged Big Five-Dimensional Circumplex (AB5C), the Emotional Forgiveness Scale (EFS), the Decision to Forgive Scale (DTFS), and the Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory (SISRI-24). The results demonstrated that personality traits positively correlated with aspects of spiritual intelligence and two types of forgiveness. Personal meaning production (PMP) and transcendental awareness (TA) mediated the relationship between personality and forgiveness, especially when accompanied by taking the decision to forgive. The ability to find meaning and deeper insight into difficult interpersonal incidents was found to be a possible way of linking personality with the forgiveness of others. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spiritual Intelligence: Problems, Challenges and Solutions)
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12 pages, 267 KiB  
Article
Is There ‘Spiritual Intelligence’? An Evaluation of Strong and Weak Proposals
by Fraser Watts and Marius Dorobantu
Religions 2023, 14(2), 265; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020265 - 16 Feb 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3172
Abstract
The debate about whether, and in what sense, there is ‘spiritual intelligence’ remains unresolved. We suggest it will be helpful to make a distinction between strong and weak versions of the claim. The strong version proposes that there is a separate and distinct [...] Read more.
The debate about whether, and in what sense, there is ‘spiritual intelligence’ remains unresolved. We suggest it will be helpful to make a distinction between strong and weak versions of the claim. The strong version proposes that there is a separate and distinct spiritual intelligence that meets the criteria set out by Howard Gardner in his ‘multiple intelligences’ framework. This involves evidence from neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, individual differences, experimental tasks, and psychometrics. We review the relevant evidence and conclude that there is no support for the strong proposal. The weak version of the claim assumes that the intelligence that is apparent in spiritual contexts is the same as is found elsewhere, but it is nevertheless deployed in a distinctive way. We suggest that the evidence supports the claim, and we review six key marks of spiritual intelligence: ineffability, embodiment, open-minded attention, pattern-seeking meaning-making, participation, and relationality. Our approach makes use of a cognitive architecture, Interacting Cognitive Subsystems (ICS), which has been proved useful in modelling spiritual practices. It will be helpful in the future to bring this approach into dialogue with other scientific approaches to spiritual intelligence from psychometrics and from experimental research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spiritual Intelligence: Problems, Challenges and Solutions)
16 pages, 369 KiB  
Article
Personality Traits and the Spiritual and Moral Intelligence of Early Adulthood in Poland: Research Reports
by Monika Dacka and Elżbieta Rydz
Religions 2023, 14(1), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14010078 - 5 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4290
Abstract
Spiritual and moral intelligence have recently become popular research questions in studies. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between spiritual and moral intelligence. It was also intended to link spiritual and moral intelligence with personality traits among people [...] Read more.
Spiritual and moral intelligence have recently become popular research questions in studies. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between spiritual and moral intelligence. It was also intended to link spiritual and moral intelligence with personality traits among people in early adulthood (aged 18 to 35) in Poland. In addition, in order to better understand the group, it was also planned to investigate the association of spiritual and moral intelligence with age. The theoretical framework for our study is the concept of spiritual intelligence as consisting of four dimensions: critical existential thinking, personal meaning-making, transcendental awareness and conscious state expansion. Measurements were based on the concept of moral intelligence as consisting of the four main dimensions of integrity, responsibility, compassion and forgiveness, and subcategories (competencies) including integrity, honesty, courage, confidentiality, commitment, personal responsibility, accountability for decisions, self-control, helping others, caring for others (compassion), understanding others’ feelings (altruism) and understanding their emotional needs (faith, belief). A total of 160 individuals aged 18 to 35 years from Poland were surveyed using the Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory, the Moral Intelligence Scale, the Ten-Item Personality Inventory. The article reports on the results of this study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spiritual Intelligence: Problems, Challenges and Solutions)
19 pages, 343 KiB  
Article
Transgressive Behaviours and Readiness to Engage in Interreligious Dialogue in Young Adulthood
by Elżbieta Rydz and Daria Stawarz
Religions 2022, 13(12), 1194; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13121194 - 7 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1410
Abstract
One of the key aspects of an individual’s spiritual intelligence is the ability to transcend, which allows one to identify dimensions of reality that go beyond the boundaries of the material world. In the present study, we look at transcendence from the theoretical [...] Read more.
One of the key aspects of an individual’s spiritual intelligence is the ability to transcend, which allows one to identify dimensions of reality that go beyond the boundaries of the material world. In the present study, we look at transcendence from the theoretical perspective of a conception proposed by Kozielecki, who defines human transgressive behaviour as all those actions and acts of thinking which exceed the limits of an individual’s existing material, symbolic and social capacities, and achievements and which constitute a source of new important values. One important social value is the readiness to engage in dialogue with people of other faiths. We wanted to investigate the associations between transgression and young people’s readiness to enter into such dialogue. Rydz and Bartczuk, departing from a psycholinguistic definition of dialogue, developed a definition of readiness to engage in interreligious dialogue, describing it as a person’s mental readiness to exchange views about religious topics with people of other religions. We hypothesised that there was a relationship between transgressive behaviours and dimensions of readiness to engage in interreligious dialogue among young adults. To verify these hypotheses, 528 people aged 18–25 were surveyed using the Readiness to Engage in Interreligious Dialogue Test (REID) and the Alternative Behaviours Checklist (ABC) based on Kozielecki’s conception of transgression. The results we obtained show that the dimensions of social transgression, creative transgression, and psychological transgression were positively related to dimensions of readiness to engage in interreligious dialogue. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spiritual Intelligence: Problems, Challenges and Solutions)

Review

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17 pages, 355 KiB  
Review
The Intelligence of Spiritual Intelligence: Making the Case
by Yosi Joseph Amram
Religions 2022, 13(12), 1140; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13121140 - 24 Nov 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 9171
Abstract
Spiritual Intelligence (SI) is the ability to draw on and embody spiritual qualities and resources to enhance daily functioning and wellbeing. Despite Gardner’s rejection of SI, the proliferation of SI models and research supporting the advantages of SI across a wide field of [...] Read more.
Spiritual Intelligence (SI) is the ability to draw on and embody spiritual qualities and resources to enhance daily functioning and wellbeing. Despite Gardner’s rejection of SI, the proliferation of SI models and research supporting the advantages of SI across a wide field of endeavors, and correlation with neurological structures and genetic indicators strongly support its validity as an intelligence. This article reviewed key models of SI, and studies supporting its adaptability and biological correlates. Puzzling results in some areas warrant exploration, especially the degree to which various models converge and the extent to which a single SI model may be truly universal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spiritual Intelligence: Problems, Challenges and Solutions)
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